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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. last — final
  3. wind — moving air
  4. key — in music
  5. last — to go on
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bank — of a river
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. last — finally
  14. key — for a lock
  15. key — the most important part
  16. bank — for money
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. wind — moving air
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. mine — for digging
  22. shower — rain
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. shower — a meteor shower

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com